Celebrating LGBT people of achievement

Why There Is No Straight Pride

“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I mean, they have equality now. Why don’t we get a Straight Pride?”

Barry Church-Woods

Recently I was sitting in a bar, enjoying a leisurely glass of wine waiting to meet some friends before hanging out at Pride Scotia; Scotland’s answer to Gay Pride.

Choosing to eves-drop when my husband went to the bar instead of looking at my phone in the usual non committal let’s not make eye contact with the locals sort of way, immediately I regretted my decision. The reason? Overhearing the same age old ignorant argument of “I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I mean, they have equality now. Why don’t we get a Straight Pride?”

It made my blood boil. Not least because I’ve heard it a million times before, but because people are still asking the question, or making the statement without being challenged by their more worldly companions. True, there have been great advances in equality for many LGBT communities throughout the world; though acknowledging this progress while simultaneously ignoring the need for equality is counterproductive and indeed reflects ignorance on the speakers part.

Now. Let me get this out of the way to start with. I know that the LGBTQI community is not the only group of people to be persecuted for being different on this planet. I know there have been great injustices done to women throughout history. I know the terrible treatments of many due to the colour of their skin or who they choose to worship. If that’s what you want to be reading about, you’re on the wrong blog. This is LGBTicons.com.

So, assuming I’ve got all of my Search Engine Optimisation right, and you’ve just landed on this page by typing into google – ‘Why Is There No Straight Pride?’ then here are just a few reasons there is continued need to celebrate the diversity of our society.

Please note: Homophobic or transphobic hate crimes often happen to people because of perceived sexuality or gender identity regardless of the reality of the situation. This list is compiled using facts garnered from international news coverage and does not assume orientation or gender identity of anyone unless they themselves were ‘out’.

March 1970

Howard Efland, a gay man who had checked into the Dover Hotel under the pseudonym of J. McCann, was beaten to death by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.

June 24, 1973

The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans, a gay bar, was burned by an arsonist, killing 32 people.

June 21, 1977

Robert Hillsborough was stabbed to death in San Francisco by a man shouting “faggot”.

July 5, 1978

A gang of youths armed with baseball bats and tree branches assaulted several men in an area of Central Park in New York City known to be frequented by homosexuals. The victims were assaulted at random, but the assailants later confessed that they had deliberately set out to the park to attack homosexuals. One of those injured was former figure skater Dick Button, who was assaulted while watching a fireworks display in the park.

November 27, 1978

Openly gay San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated by political rival Dan White at San Francisco City Hall. Outrage over the assassinations and the short sentence given to White (seven years) prompted the White Night riots.

January 1979

Tennessee Williams was the victim of an assault in Key West, being beaten by five teenage boys. He escaped serious injury. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence inspired by an anti-gay newspaper ad run by a local Baptist minister.

June 5, 1979

Terry Knudsen was beaten to death by three men in Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

September 7, 1979

Robert Allen Taylor was stabbed to death near Loring Park in Minneapolis. A local reporter interviewed the murderer from jail and was told, “I don’t like gays. Okay?”

October 7, 1979

17-year-old Steven Charles of Newark was beaten to death in New York City by Costabile “Gus” Farace, Robert DeLicio, David Spoto and Farace’s cousin Mark Granato. They also beat Charles’ friend, 16-year-old Thomas Moore of Brooklyn. Moore was critically injured but managed to get help at a nearby residence. It was Moore that identified the four men via a lineup four days after the incident. Farace, the leader of the attack, plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was paroled after 8 years, in 1988. He himself was murdered on November 17, 1989.

1984

Charlie Howard was drowned in Bangor, Maine for being “flamboyantly gay”.

May 13, 1988

Rebecca Wight was killed when she and her partner, Claudia Brenner, were shot by Stephen Roy Carr while hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail. Carr later claimed that he became enraged by the couple’s lesbianism when he saw them having sex.

1990

James Zappalorti (pictured in his youth), a gay Vietnam veteran, was stabbed to death.

July 2, 1990

Julio Rivera was murdered in New York City by two men who beat him with a hammer and stabbed him with a knife because he was gay.

1991

Paul Broussard, a Houston-area banker, was murdered. He was attacked by 10 young men along with Clay Anderson and Richard Delaunay, who survived. All ten of the attackers were eventually convicted, with sentences ranging from a probation and fine for the respective hospitalization and funeral bills to the 45-year imprisonment of Jon Buice, who confessed to inflicting the fatal stab wound.

October 27, 1992

U.S. Navy Petty Officer Allen Schindler was murdered by a shipmate who stomped him to death in a public restroom in Japan. Schindler had complained repeatedly about anti-gay harassment aboard ship. The case became synonymous with the gays in the military debate that had been brewing in the United States culminating in the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” bill.

1993

Brandon Teena, a trans man, was raped and later killed when his birth gender was revealed by police to male friends of his. The events leading to Teena’s death were depicted in the movie Boys Don’t Cry.

March 9, 1995

Scott Amedure was murdered after revealing his attraction to his friend Jonathan Schmitz on a The Jenny Jones Show episode about secret crushes. Schmitz purchased a shotgun to kill Amedure and did so after Amedure implied he still was attracted to him; Schmitz then turned himself in to police.

November 20, 1995

Chanelle Pickett, 23, an African American trans woman, died at the home of William C. Palmer after a fight that ensued after Palmer discovered that she was transgender and he demanded she leave his home.

December 4, 1995

Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a lesbian couple in Medford, Oregon, were murdered by a man who said he had “no compassion” for bisexual or homosexual people. Robert Acremant was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

January 4, 1996

Fred Mangione, a gay man, was murdered in Texas by two Neo-nazi brothers. His partner, Kenneth Stern was also attacked, but survived. One of the attackers, Ronald Henry Gauthier, later received at 10-year probation sentence.

May 1996

Julianne Williams, 24 and Lollie Winans, 26 (pictured) were murdered at their campsite along the Appalachian Trail on Virginia’s Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. They were bound and gagged and their throats were slit. To date, there has been no conviction in the murders.

August 1, 1996

Nick Moraida, a 34-year-old Latino gay man, was murdered during a robbery. His murderer, Richard Cartwright, was sentenced to death penalty.

February 21, 1997

The Otherside Lounge, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, was bombed by Eric Robert Rudolph, the “Olympic Park Bomber;” five bar patrons were injured. In a statement released after he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for his several bombings, Rudolph called homosexuality an “aberrant lifestyle”.

October 7, 1998

Matthew Shepard (pictured), a gay student, in Laramie, Wyoming was tortured, beaten severely, tied to a fence, and abandoned; he was found 18 hours after the attack and succumbed to his injuries less than a week later, on October 12. His attackers, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, are both serving two consecutive life sentences in prison.

February 19, 1999

Billy Jack Geither, a 39-year-old gay man, was brutally beaten to death in Rockford, Alabama. His attackers, Steve Mullins and Charles Monroe Butler, were found guilty of murder and were both sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

July 1, 1999

Gay couple Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder were murdered by white supremacist brothers Matthew and Tyler Williams in Redding, California. Tyler Williams was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison, to be served after his completion of a 21-year sentence for firebombing synagogues and an abortion clinic. Benjamin Williams claimed that by killing the couple he was “obeying the laws of the Creator”. He committed suicide in 2003 while awaiting trial. Their former pastor described the brothers as “zealous in their faith” but “far from kooks”.

July 6, 1999

U.S. Army Pfc. Barry Winchell was murdered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky by fellow soldier Calvin Glover. Winchell was beaten to death with a baseball bat after rumors spread on base of his relationship with transgendered author Calpernia Addams. Glover was sentenced to life in prison. The events that lead up to Winchell’s death are depicted in the movie Soldier’s Girl.

September 1999

Steen Fenrich was murdered, apparently by his stepfather, John D. Fenrich, in Queens, New York. His dismembered remains were found in March 2001, with the phrase “gay nigger number one” scrawled on his skull along with his social security number. His stepfather fled from police while being interviewed, then committed suicide.

October 15, 1999

Sissy “Charles” Bolden was found shot to death in Savannah, Georgia. Police arrested Charles E. Wilkins, Jr., in July 2003; he admitted the killing, and was charged in two other homicides, according to the Savannah Police Department.

July 3, 2000

Arthur “J.R.” Warren was punched and kicked to death in Grant Town, West Virginia by two teenage boys who reportedly believed Warren had spread a rumor that he and one of the boys, David Allen Parker, had a sexual relationship. Warren’s killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-and-run. Parker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to “life in prison with mercy”, making him eligible for parole after 15 years. His accomplice, Jared Wilson, was sentenced to 20 years.

September 22, 2000

Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet, 43 years old, and severely injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by God to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a “Christian Soldier working for my Lord;” Gay testified in court that “he wished he could have killed more fags,” before several of the shooting victims as well as Danny Overstreet’s family and friends.

June 16, 2001

Fred Martinez (pictured), a transgender and two-spirit student was bludgeoned to death near Cortez, Colorado by 18-year-old Shaun Murphy, who reportedly bragged about attacking a “fag”.

June 12, 2002

Philip Walsted, a gay man, was fatally beaten with a baseball bat. According to prosecutors, the neo-Nazi views of Walsted’s assailant’s, David Higdon, led to what was originally a robbery escalating to murder. Higdon was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional sentence for robbery.

August 6, 2002

Rodney Velasquez, a 26-year-old Latino gay man was found murdered in the bathtub of his Bronx apartment.

October 3, 2002

Gwen Araujo, a trans woman, was murdered by at least three men who were charged with committing a hate crime. Two were convicted of murder, the third manslaughter; however, the jury rejected the hate crime enhancement.

December 12, 2002

Terrianne Summers, a 51-year-old trans woman and activist for transgender rights, was shot and killed in her front yard in Florida. No arrests were made and police did not investigate her murder as a hate crime. Terriane’s high visibility as a trans woman due to her activist role has led her to be included in lists of anti LGBT hate crimes, although lack of police interest in her murder means the motives behind the killing may never be known.

Sakia Gunn, a black 15-year-old lesbian, was murdered in Newark, New Jersey. While waiting for a bus, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances, declaring themselves to be lesbians, the men attacked them. One of the men, Richard McCullough, fatally stabbed Gunn. In exchange for his pleading guilty to several lesser crimes including aggravated manslaughter, prosecutors dropped murder charges against McCullough, who was sentenced to 20 years.

June 17, 2003

Richie Phillips of Elizabethtown, Kentucky was killed by Joseph Cottrell. His body was later found in a suitcase in Rough River Lake. During his trial, two of Cottrell’s relatives testified that he lured Phillips to his death, and killed him because he was gay. Cottrell was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

July 23, 2003

Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman were shot to death by Paul Moore, when Moore learned after a sexual encounter that Johnson was transgender. Moore then burned his victims’ bodies. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 120 years in prison.

July 31, 2003

37-year-old Glenn Kopitske was shot and stabbed in the back by 17-year-old Gary Hirte, a straight-A student, star athlete and Eagle Scout, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Prosecutors contended that Hirte murdered Kopitske to see if he could get away with it. Hirte pleaded insanity, claiming he killed Kopitske in a murderous rage after a consensual sexual encounter with the victim, because he felt a homosexual act was “worse than murder”. The ‘temporary insanity’ mitigation plea was not upheld, he was found guilty, and received a life sentence.

August 2003

Emonie Spaulding, a black 25-year-old trans woman, was shot to death in Washington DC by Derrick Antwan Lewis after he discovered she was trans.

July 22, 2004

18-year-old Scotty Joe Weaver of Bay Minette, Alabama, was murdered. His burned and partially decomposed body was discovered a few miles from the mobile home in which he lived. He was beaten, strangled and stabbed numerous times, partially decapitated, and his body was doused in gasoline and set on fire.

October 2, 2004

Daniel Fetty, a gay man who was hearing-impaired and homeless was attacked by multiple assailants in Waverly, Ohio. Fetty was beaten, stomped, shoved nude into a garbage bin, impaled with a stick, and left for dead; he succumbed to his injuries the next day. Prosecuters alleged a hate crime. Three men received sentences ranging from seven years to life.

January 28, 2005

Ronnie Antonio Paris, a three-year-old boy living in Tampa, Florida, died due to brain injuries inflicted by his father, Ronnie Paris, Jr. According to his mother and other relatives, Ronnie Paris, Jr., repeatedly slammed his son into walls, slapped the child’s head, and “boxed” him because he was concerned the child was gay and would grow up a sissy. Paris was sentenced to thirty years in prison.

February 27, 2005

21-year-old James Maestas was assaulted outside a restaurant, then followed to a hotel and beaten unconscious by men who called him “faggot” during the attack. Although all of his attackers were charged with committing a hate crime, none was sentenced to prison.

March 11, 2005

Jason Gage, an openly gay man, was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa, apartment by an assailant, Joseph Lawrence, who claimed Gage had made sexual advance to him. Gage was bludgeoned to death with a bottle, and stabbed in the neck, probably post-mortem, with a shard of glass. Lawrence was sentenced to fifty years in prison.

February 2, 200618-year-old Jacob D. Robida entered a bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, confirmed that it was a gay bar, and then attacked patrons with a hatchet and a handgun, wounding three. He fatally shot himself three days later.

June 10, 2006

Kevin Aviance, a female impressionist, musician, and fashion designer, was robbed and beaten in Manhattan by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four assailants pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.

Are you catching on yet?

July 30, 2006

Six men were attacked with baseball bats and knives after leaving the San Diego Gay Pride festival. One victim was injured so severely that he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Three men pleaded guilty in connection with the attacks and received prison sentences. A 15-year-old juvenile also pleaded guilty.

October 8, 2006

Michael Sandy (pictured) was attacked by four young heterosexual men who lured him into meeting after chatting online, while they were looking for gay men to rob. He was struck by a car while trying to escape his attackers, and died five days later without regaining consciousness.

February 27, 2007

Andrew Anthos, a 72-year-old disabled gay man, was beaten with a lead pipe in Detroit, Michigan by a man who was shouting anti-gay names at him. Anthos died 10 days later in the hospital.

March 15, 2007

Ryan Keith Skipper, a 25-year-old gay man was stabbed to death in Wahneta, Florida. Four suspects were arrested for the crime. The Sheriff is calling it a hate crime.

March 16, 2007

Ruby Ordeñana, a 24-year-old Latina transgender woman, was found naked and strangled to death in San Francisco, CA at 5:40 am. Donzell Francis, who was suspected of raping and strangling Ordeñana, was convicted on December 23, 2009 and sentenced to 17 years and 18 months in prison for forcible oral copulation, robbery, assault causing great bodily injury, and false imprisonment of another transgender woman.

May 12, 2007

Roberto Duncanson was murdered in Brooklyn, New York. He was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.

May 16, 2007

Sean William Kennedy, 20, was walking to his car from Brew’s Bar in Greenville, SC when Stephen Andrew Moller, 18, got out of another car and approached Kennedy. Investigators said that Moller made a comment about Kennedy’s sexual orientation, and threw a fatal punch because he didn’t like the other man’s sexual preference.

October 2007

Steven Domer, a 62-year-old gay man, was murdered in Oklahoma.

December 8, 2007

25-year-old gay man Nathaniel Salerno was attacked by four men on a Metro train in Washington, DC. The men called him “faggot” while they beat him.

What about now?

January 8, 2008

Stacey Brown, a black 30-year-old trans woman, was found dead in her apartment. She had been shot in the head.

July 1, 2008

Ebony Whitaker, an African American trans woman, was shot and killed in Memphis.

February 2008

Duanna Johnson, a trans woman, was beaten by a police officer while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Tennessee. Johnson said the officers reportedly called her a “faggot” and “he-she,” before and during the incident. In November 2008, she was found dead in the street, reportedly gunned down by three unknown individuals.

February 4, 2008

Ashley Sweeney, a trans woman, was shot in the head. Her body was found in Detroit, Michigan.

February 10, 2008

Sanesha Stewart, a 25-year-old black trans woman was stabbed to death in Bronx, New York.

February 12, 2008

Lawrence “Larry” King, a 15-year-old junior highschool student was shot twice by a classmate at E.O. Green School in Oxnard, California. He was taken off life support after doctors declared him brain dead on February 15. According to Associated Press reports, “prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements”.

February 22, 2008

Simmie Williams Jr. was a black gender-nonconforming 17-year-old, who was shot dead on a street corner in Broward County, Florida.

March 16, 2008

Police say Lance Neve was beaten unconscious in Rochester, New York because Neve was gay. A man attacked Neve at a bar leaving him with a fractured skull, and a broken nose. Jesse Parsons was sentenced to more than five years in prison for the assault.

May 29, 2008

Eighteen-year-old Steven Parrish, a member of the 92 Family Swans subgroup of the Bloods, was murdered by Steven T. Hollis III and Juan L. Flythe on orders from gang leader Timothy Rawlings Jr., in Baltimore County, Maryland after they found “gay messages” on his cell phone. The felt having a gay member would make their gang appear weak. Hollis III pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison; Flythe was given a life sentence with all but 30 years suspended; and Rawlings was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A fourth man, Benedict Wureh, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to time served, about 17 months.

June 9, 2008

Jeremy Waggoner, an openly gay hairstylist from Royal Oak, Michigan, was brutally murdered in Detroit. His murder is still unsolved.

July 17, 2008

Eighteen-year-old Angie Zapata (pictured), a trans woman, was beaten to death in Colorado two days after meeting Allen Ray Andrade. The case was prosecuted as a hate crime, and Andrade was found guilty of first degree murder on April 22, 2009.

August 20, 2008

Nahkia Williams, a black trans woman, was shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky. Damon Malone was charged with her murder, robbery, and burglary, and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

September 7, 2008

Tony Randolph Hunter, 27, and his partner were attacked and beaten near a gay bar in Washington DC. Hunter later died from his injuries on September 18. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.

September 13, 2008

26-year-old Nima Daivari was attacked in Denver, Colorado by a man who called him “faggot”. The police that arrived on the scene refused to make a report of the attack.

September 21, 2008

22-year-old trans woman Ruby Molina’s nude body was found facedown on the bank of a river in isolated and undeveloped area in Sacramento, California.

November 7, 2008

The home of openly gay Melvin Whistlehunt in Newton, North Carolina was destroyed by arsonists. Investigators found homophobic graffiti spray-painted on the back of the house.

What about now?

November 14, 2008

22-year-old Lateisha Green, a trans woman, was shot and killed by Dwight DeLee in Syracuse, NY because he thought she was gay. Local news media reported the incident with her legal name, Moses “Teish” Cannon. DeLee was convicted of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime on July 17, 2009, and received the maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison. This was only the second time in the nation’s history that a person was prosecuted for a hate crime against a transgender person and the first hate crime conviction in New York state.

December 7, 2008

Romel Sucuzhanya, a 31-year-old straight Ecuadorean and his brother Jose, were attacked on a Brooklyn, New York street for appearing to be gay and for being Latino; they were walking arm-in-arm, which is normal for brothers in their culture. Romel later died from his injuries.

December 12, 2008

A 28-year-old lesbian in Richmond, California was kidnapped and gang raped by four men who made homophobic remarks during the attack.

Efosa Agbontaen and Branden McGillvery-Dummett were attacked in New York City by four young men with glass bottles and box cutters who used anti-gay slurs during the attack. Agbontaen and McGillvery-Dummett both required emergency room treatment for their injuries.

February 18, 2009

Two men were arrested in Stroudsburg, PA for the stabbing death of gay veteran Michael Goucher.

March 1, 2009

Three men entered a bar in Galveston, Texas and attacked patrons with rocks. One of the victims, Marc Bosaw, was sent to the emergency room to have twelve staples in his head.

March 14, 2009

A gay couple leaving a Britney Spears concert in Newark, New Jersey were attacked by 15 teens. Josh Kehoe and Bobby Daniel Caldwell were called “faggots” and beaten. Caldwell suffered a broken jaw.

March 23, 2009

Two gay men were attacked in Seaside, Oregon and left lying unconscious on a local beach. The men regained consciousness and were treated at a nearby hospital.

April 6, 2009

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old child in Springfield, Massachusetts, hanged himself with an extension cord after being bullied all school year by peers who said “he acted feminine” and was gay.

April 11, 2009

A gay man in Gloucester, Massachusetts was attacked and beaten by as many as six people outside a bar. Justin Goodwin, 36, of Salem suffered a shattered jaw, broken eye socket, broken nose and broken cheekbone.

June 18, 2009

Patti Hammond Shaw, an African-American trans woman, turned herself into a police station in Washington DC after receiving a letter saying there was a warrant for her arrest on charges of making a false police report. Despite producing documents supporting her right to be housed with other women, she was placed in a men’s facility. According to her suit, officers “groped her breasts, buttocks and between her legs repeatedly and excessively”. She is now suing Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Marshals service for the treatment she received.

June 30, 2009

Seaman August Provost was found shot to death and his body burned at his guard post on Camp Pendleton. LGBT community leaders “citing military sources initially said that Provost’s death was a hate crime.” Provost had been harassed because of his sexual orientation. Military leaders have since explained that “whatever the investigation concludes, the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prevented Provost from seeking help.” Family and friends believe he was murdered because he was openly gay (or bisexual according to some family and sources); the killer committed suicide a week later after admitting the murder, the Navy have not concluded if this was a hate crime.

October 25, 2009

Dee Green, a trans woman, was found by police unconscious, stabbed in the heart, and bleeding on a street in Baltimore, Maryland. She was taken to a hospital where she died half an hour later. Larry Douglas was charged with first-degree murder in April 2010.

November 2009

Jason Mattison Jr (pictured), an openly gay 15-year-old boy, was violently murdered and raped at his aunt’s house by 35-year-old Dante Parrish, a family friend who had been in prison for murder previously.

December 9, 2009

Mariah Malina Qualls’ body was found in a San Francisco hotel. She was a 23-year-old transgender woman who volunteered and was a member of the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center’s TRANS:THRIVE community.

January 18, 2010

The half-naked corpse of Myra Chanel Ical, 51, a trans woman of colour, was found in a vacant lot in Houston, Texas.

March 30, 2010

Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar, a 29-year-old Latina trans woman, was found dead in her Queens, New York apartment. The autopsy found that her attacker, Rasheen Everett, had strangled her then doused her body with bleach.

April 3, 2010

Toni Alston, a black 44-year-old transgender woman, was shot in the front door of her home in West Charlotte, North Carolina.

May 7, 2010

Dana A. “Chanel” Larkin, a 26-year-old black trans woman who worked as a prostitute, was shot three times in the head by her client, Andrew Olacirequi, after she asked him if he was okay with them having sex despite her male genitalia. She was found dead on the pavement of a Milwaukee street.

June 21, 2010

Sandy Woulard, a 28-year-old trans woman, was shot in the chest in South Side, Chicago. A passing motorist found her laying in the street, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

October 3, 2010

A 30-year-old male known as “la Reina” (the Queen), Bryan Almonte, 17, and Brian Cepeda, 17, were kidnapped by a homophobic group of youths calling themselves the Latin King Goonies, sodomized by foreign objects including a plunger and baseball bat, burned with cigarettes, and tortured for hours. One of the teenage victims had wanted to join the gang the attackers were part of, but when members saw him with the 30-year-old, they later picked him up and took him to an abandoned apartment and asked him if the two had had sex. When the teenager responded positively, he was beaten and sodomized. The gang later picked up the second teenager whom they had also seen with the 30-year-old and repeated the process. They then lured the 30-year-old to the building with the promise of a party. When he arrived with alcohol, the gang tied him up and tortured him and made the 17-year-old burn him with cigarettes. They then robbed the man’s 40-year-old brother, coercing him by putting a cellphone to his ear so he could hear his brother beg to pay them.

September 11, 2010

Victoria Carmen White, a 28-year-old black transgender woman, died of bullet wounds in her New Jersey apartment. It is believed she was targeted by her killer, Alrashim Chambers, for her gender identity.

October 14, 2010

Stacey Blahnik Lee, a 31-year-old black trans woman, was found murdered in her Philadelphia home by her boyfriend.

January 11, 2011

Chrissie Bates, a 45-year-old transgender woman, was stabbed to death in her downtown Minneapolis apartment. Arnold Darwin Waukazo was sentenced to 367 months in prison for the murder.

February 19, 2011

Tyra Trent, a black 25-year-old trans woman, was found strangled to death in a vacant house.

April 4, 2011

Quinn Matney suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns to his wrist after being branded by an unidentified man for being gay. The attack happened while he was taking a night time stroll on his university campus in North Carolina.

April 2011

Kevin Pennington, a gay 28-year-old male, was kidnapped and severely beaten in a Kentucky park by two men shouting anti gay epithets. David Jason Jenkins and Anthony Ray Jenkins face possible life sentences for anti gay hate crime. On March 15, 2012, the Kentucky State Police assisted the FBI in arresting David Jenkins, Anthony Jenkins, Mable Jenkins, and Alexis Jenkins of Partridge, KY for the beating of Kevin Pennington during a late-night attack in April 2011 at Kingdom Come State Park, near Cumberland. The push came from the gay-rights group Kentucky Equality Federation, whose president, Jordan Palmer, began lobbying the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky in August 2011to prosecute after stating he had no confidence in the Harlan County Commonwealth’s Attorney to act. “I think the case’s notoriety may have derived in large part from the Kentucky Equality Federation efforts,” said Harvey, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Mable Jenkins, and Alexis Jenkins plead guilty.

April 22, 2011

Chrissy Lee Polis, a 22-year-old trans woman, was beaten in a violent struggle by two African-American women for entering the women’s bathroom in Baltimore County, Maryland, which triggered her to have a seizure. A McDonald’s employee, who was later fired, filmed the encounter and released the film on the internet; it since went viral. Teonna Monae Brown, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and a hate crime in the beating, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison, plus three years of supervised probation. The other woman was charged as a juvenile and committed to a juvenile detention facility.

June 2011

Rosita Hernandez, a Cuban trans woman, was stabbed to death in Miami.

July 20, 2011

Lashai Mclean, a 23-year-old African American trans woman, was shot to death in Northeast Washington DC.

August 11, 2011

Camila Guzman, a Latina transgender woman, was found murdered in her apartment in East Harlem, Manhattan.

September 8, 2011

Cameron Nelson, a 32-year-old gay man, was attacked at his place of employment in Utah.

October 11, 2011

Shelley Hilliard, a black transgender teen who had been reported missing, had her burnt torso identified by police in Detroit. Her killer, 30-year-old Qasim Raqib, was sentenced on March 6, 2012 to 25–40 years in jail.

November 15, 2011

Danny Vega (pictured), a 58-year-old Asian-American gay man who worked as a hairdresser in Rainier Valley, Seattle was beaten and robbed as he was taking a walk. The beating left Vega in a coma from which he later died.

November 17, 2011

Cassidy Nathan Vickers, a 32-year-old black transgender woman, died from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest in Hollywood. Her killer, who is still unidentified, is suspected of also attempting to rob and non-fatally shoot another black transgender woman on the same day.

December 17, 2011

Charlie Hernandez, a 26-year-old who was openly gay, was stabbed to death following a brawl that included anti-gay slurs that occurred with two men after he accidentally stepped on some sunglasses.

December 24, 2011

Dee Dee Pearson, a 31-year-old transgender woman, died from bullet wounds in Kansas City, Missouri. Kenyan L. Jones was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Jones told police he paid to have sexual relations with Ms Pearson, believing her to be a cisgender woman, but hours after having sex with her, discovered she was not. Angered by what he considered to be a deception, he got a 9mm-caliber handgun, found Ms Pearson, and killed her. Kenyan L. Jones was arrested on suspicion of her murder.

December 29, 2011

The body of Githe Goines, a black 23-year-old trans woman who had been reported missing 2 weeks beforehand, was found in a scrapheap. An autopsy set that the time of her death as much as 2 days before her body was discovered, and that she had been strangled.

January 21, 2012

Crain Conaway, a black 47-year-old trans woman, was found dead in her home in Oceanside, California. Tyree Paschall Monday was arrested in connection with her murder.

February 2, 2012

JaParker “Deoni” Jones, a 23-year-old black trans woman, was stabbed in the head while waiting at a Metro bus stop in Washington DC.

February 2012

Cody Rogers, an 18-year-old teenager, was brutally assaulted and targeted with homophobic slurs at a party after defending a female friend who was also attacked.

March 24, 2012

Several transgender and crossdressing people were shot at and robbed in Florida by a man, suspected to be De Los Santos. 23-year-old Tyrell Jackson was fatally wounded in the shooting, which also injured 20-year-old Michael Hunter.

April 3, 2012

Coko Williams, a black trans woman, was found murdered in East Detroit, Michigan. The homicide may have been related to Coko’s involvement in sex work.

April 16, 2012

Paige Clay, 23, a black trans woman, was found dead, with a bullet wound to her face in West Garfield Park, Chicago. The death was ruled as a homicide.

April 21, 2012

Eric Unger, a 23-year-old gay man living in Illinois, was attacked by a group of men on the way home from a party, while they shouted anti-gay epithets at him. The investigation is ongoing.

April 29, 2012

Brandy Martell, a 37-year-old trans woman of color, was murdered in Oakland, California.

May 2012

Max Pelofske, a 21-year-old gay man, was beaten by a group of youths at a party in Minnesota. Pelofske claims it was a hate crime, but police disagree.

June 5, 2012

Kardin Ulysse, a black 14-year-old boy, was attacked in the cafeteria of Roy Mann Junior High School by another group of boys. He was called anti-gay slurs and sustained damage to the cornea of one of his eyes, leaving him blinded. Ulysse’s parents planned on suing the city for failing to supervise its students properly.

June 23, 2012

Mollie Olgin, 19 years old, and her girlfriend, Kristene Chapa, 18 years old, were found shot in the head near Violet Andrews Park in Portland, Texas. Olgin died at the scene and Chapa survived. Law enforcement has said there is no evidence to suggest that the incident is a hate crime. The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Texas urged a thorough investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and Portland police to find the shooter.

July 5, 2012

Tracy Johnson, a 40-year-old black trans woman, was found dead from gunshot wounds in Baltimore, Maryland.

August 14, 2012

Tiffany Gooden, a 19-year-old black trans woman, was found murdered on the second floor of an abandoned building in Chicago. An autopsy verified that she had been stabbed to death. Notably, the body of Paige Clay, another young black trans woman, was discovered in April 3 blocks away from where Tiffany was found. The pair were known as friends.

August 18, 2012

Kendall Hampton, a 26-year-old black trans woman, died of gunshot wounds. Eugene Carlos Dukes was arrested in early September for her murder, and indicted later that month.

August 26, 2012

Deja Jones, a 33-year-old black trans woman, was shot to death in Miami. No arrest has yet been made.

September 3, 2012

The body of Kyra Cordova, a 27-year-old trans woman, was found in a wooded area in Frankford, Philadelphia.

November 15, 2012

Janette Tovar, a 43-year-old trans woman was murdered by her partner, Jonathan Kenney, according to police, who beat her and slammed her head into concrete. He was later arrested for her murder.

March 1, 2013

Sondra Scarber addressed a parent about her girlfriend’s son being bullied at Seabourn Elementary School in Mesquite, Texas, and was beaten by him when he realized that she was a lesbian.

May 17, 2013

Mark Carson (pictured), a 32-year old gay man, was shot to death by another man who trailed and taunted him and a friend as they walked down the street in Greenwich Village, New York. When the two friends ignored the assailant’s questions, the man began yelling anti-gay slurs and asked one of them, “You want to die tonight?” Elliot Morales, 33, was arrested briefly after the shooting and charged with murder and weapons charges on May 19. According to police, Morales said he shot Carson because he was “acting tough”. Morales pleaded not guilty on June 19, 2013.

September 16, 2013

Ever Orozco, a 69-year-old man was stabbed to death with an eight-inch knife under a New York subway station in broad daylight for blowing kisses to passers by.

These are just a very small selection of cases of violence against the LGBT community. Most are Western cases, taking place in the states and the UK. Thousands upon thousands of others are treated barbarically across the world. Their crime? The gender of the people they fall in love with.

So if you ever do question why there is not a straight pride, please think on these cases, and be thankful that you don’t need one.

(Please note the inclusion of incidents within the trans community is by no means reflective of assumed sexuality; though the violence endured is).

It’s actually really humbling as a Western gay married man to be compiling the list. I’m thinking there’s much more that can be done with it as it doesn’t even touch the sides of what’s happening globally. This was pulled together from the first page of google results for ‘homophobic hate crimes’.

Just so you know Joshua from Pearland, Texas was NOT gay. I actually helped search for him and met his parents. I am pretty sure his parents would not be happy that you posted false information about their child in this article, so I humbly request you take Joshua off of this please. Thank you.

Hi Bryan, thanks for this. The article in questions features many cases of homophobic or transphobic hate crimes based on perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. I thought this was fairly transparent and that readers would understand the context. After deliberation I have added a paragraph to clarify this and I have removed Joshua’s inclusion as a mark of respect to his parents since you think that this could upset them. The UK has very strict libel laws which we take very seriously. As such it’s worth clarifying that nothing that was written about Joshua was false as it is documented that Moralez told authorities his actions were the result in unwanted sexual advances. Regards, Barry.

Such an awful list to read through. Very frightening, angering, and depressing that we have this much hate and cruelty out there. My heart goes out to all their families and all who loved them. I read, hear, and see in the media a lot about human rights abuses in my line of activism. To see it within your own nation though makes it hit very close to home. The inhumanity of some of humanity never ceases to shock me. The number of LGBTQI people killed throughout history is terrible to even imagine. Thankfully things are getting better but we are far where we need to be. A lot of hate and cruelty still exist out there.